From left to right are, top row, Thomas Burnett, Emily Harless, and Erin Bartley. Bottom row, left to right, are Tyler Totten, Kevin Hall, and Brian Duvall.

WestRock's Covington Mill Announces Position Changes   Covington, VA (April 17, 2024) - WestRock’s Alleghany Highlands Operations announces position changes that were announced internally the second half of December 2023 and the first half of January 2024. Thomas Burnette accepted the position of process control analyst. In this position, he is responsible for providing day-to-day support to DCS and PLC systems, supporting the process control network, and working with the Production, Maintenance, and Engineering departments on projects related to continuing process improvement. Burnette earned his A.S. degree in Applied Science from ECPI in Roanoke in 1991. He started his career at Westvaco in Field Services in the Carbon department in 2000 and moved to Field Services at the Covington mill in 2003. In 2014, he moved to MWV’s Richmond office as a system architect. He accepted a position in 2016 with Ingevity as a systems architect in Covington. Burnette joined SDI in Roanoke, VA, as a system architect in 2019 and joined Corestaff at the Covington mill in Field Services in 2021. Emily Harless accepted the position of project engineer in Engineering. In this position, Harless is responsible for coordinating the safety, planning, organization, and completion of capital projects, managing and coordinating safety and environmental reviews for projects during the design and construction phases, managing all design and construction of approved capital projects, and completing FEP I, FEP II, and FEP III engineering studies for capital jobs. Harless received her B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from WVU Tech in May 2020. In 2017, she worked as an intern with Kureha PGA, LLC in Belle, WV, and in 2018, as an intern with Coronado Coal in Grundy, VA. Harless was a co-op at the Covington mill in 2019 and joined the mill full-time in 2020 as a process engineer on C8 and then C1. In 2022, she joined the Reliability department as a reliability engineer. Erin Bartley accepted the position of security guard in Plant Protection. In this position, she will manage security gate access, mill evacuation systems, dispatch fire and rescue response calls, monitor security cameras, and issue daily visitor passes. Bartley graduated from Covington High School in 1991. She received her A. A. S. in education from Dabney S. Lancaster Community College in 1994. Bartley began her career as deputy court clerk for Alleghany District Court in 1993. Tyler Totten accepted the position of senior environmental engineer in the Environmental department. In this position, he is responsible for air compliance activities for the Covington mill, ensuring that the required reporting, monitoring, training, policies, procedures, and maintenance programs are in place and implemented correctly, providing updates and implementing various environmental plans and programs, and developing environmental team members for higher level responsibilities. Totten graduated from Fairmont State University in 2018 with a B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering. In May 2017, he joined the Covington mill as a process engineer co-op. Totten joined MEC construction in April 2018 as an Auto CAD technician and then accepted a position in August 2018 with Mersen USA in Salem, Virginia, as a mechanical design engineer. In 2019, Totten rejoined the mill as a process engineer in the Fiberline and later that year accepted the position of environment l engineer. In November 2021, he accepted the position of water treatment engineer in the Power department. Kevin Hall accepted the position of tour leader in Plant Protection. In this position, he is responsible for checking fire extinguishers, hose stations, and fire alarms, as well as making security check rounds throughout the plant, answering fire and rescue calls, and conducting incident investigations. Hall graduated from Alleghany High School in 1982. He earned a certificate of Law Enforcement in 1988 and his A.A.S. degree in Criminal Justice from DSLCC in 1989. Hall began his career in law enforcement as a patrolman in the Covington Police department in 1986. While there, he held various positions including Drug task Force in 1996, patrol sergeant in 1998, school resource officer in 2001, and detective sergeant, which he was promoted to in 2004. Hall was elected Sheriff of Alleghany County in 2008. Brian Duvall accepted the position of tour leader in Plant Protection. In this position, he is responsible for checking fire extinguishers, hose stations, and fire alarms, as well as making security check rounds throughout the plant, answering fire and rescue calls, and conducting incident investigations. Brian attended school at Northern High School in Owings, Maryland. After school, he joined the Virginia Department of Corrections, where he worked for 18 years.

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